My 29th birthday

Last Sunday (the 16th), I celebrated my 29th birthday. I'm now officially in the last year of my twenties. *gulp* It's actually not bothering me as much as it has other years. I'm feeling hopeful, like great things are right around the corner. I'm determined to make 29 EPIC - the best year ever.

As we do every year, Mum threw a small party here at home. My brother couldn't come, but my sister-in-law and nephews did. We spent the afternoon playing, eating, taking pictures, and watching movies. It was a lot of fun. I think I can say without reservation that it was one of the best birthdays I've had in a really long time - not only because I got to spend it with my family, but because I got the best news ever just after midnight: my second novel, THE GAME CHANGER, made it onto a bestseller list! It broke into the top 100 books in the Women's Fiction category on Amazon, and stayed there all day. It was incredibly exciting, and it felt like validation for all the hard work I've done all year. I've busted my ass this entire year - had no social life, barely saw anyone or left the house - and getting that recognition felt like my reward. I'm just hoping and praying sales stay as high as they are. *crosses fingers*

Also, late that night, I checked my email and found out I'd won a Kindle, which was super awesome! I have a Kobo, but having a Kindle would be incredible because there are so many ebooks that are only available on Kindle. Plus now I can share my ereaders with my mum, which I'm not really able to do now. 

So you see...epic start to an epic year. I have so many things I want to accomplish this year, and I'm sure I'll talk about them all, just not tonight. ;-)

Mmm, Dairy Queen ice cream cake!

Me and my babies <3

Amanda, me, and the boys

Nana (Mum) and Logan

The birthday princess! This was one of the gifts Amanda and the boys gave me - I love Paris (I have a small collection of Eiffel Tower knick-knacks I got in Paris when I was 17, plus a few things friends have gotten me over the years), so Amanda found this print and there's a switch on the side that you can flip to make little lights appear on the Tower...soooo cool

    

The Game Changer Spread the Word Giveaway

On my book blog, Ramblings of a Daydreamer, I'm having a giveaway for people who help me spread the word about The Game Changer via Twitter, Facebook, Google +, blogs, etc. If you'd like to win one of 20 new releases, hop on over to Ramblings of a Daydreamer and enter the giveaway!

{Facebook || Twitter || GoodReads || Pinterest || YouTube || Author blog || Personal/photography blog} 

Happy stuff, excitement, and a meltdown

It seems like I usually use this blog to talk about the stuff that's bothering me. Today I actually have something I'm happy and excited about: my second novel, The Game Changer. It comes out three weeks from today. It feels like I've been working on this book forever. I started it right after the release of Blue Sky Days, and it took me several months to write because I had so much else going on in my life. When I finished writing it, I set it aside rather than starting revisions right away, and I ended up writing my third book in the meantime. When book #3 was done, I started revisions on The Game Changer, sent it out to beta readers, and long story short, here I am, three weeks before publication. 

I posted the very first excerpt of the book on Ramblings of a Daydreamer today. It was exciting and nerve-wracking to share a little piece of the book. All morning I've had butterflies and barfy feelings lol. I also have a giveaway up and a request for people to help me spread the word about the book, since I haven't done much to promote it. If you'd like to read the excerpt and help me spread the word in exchange for a chance to win an awesome new book of your choice, head on over to Ramblings of a Daydreamer. 

I just finished revisions for the book last night, and I'm not even technically done because I need one more set of eyes to read over it, and that set of eyes is very busy this week. It's stressing me out, because the longer it takes her, the longer I have to push back formatting and sending the book out to reviewers. But...for right now I have a little reprieve. I actually don't know what to do with myself today. My sister-in-law has been sick the last few days, so I unexpectedly had today and yesterday off from babysitting duty. Goodness knows I have  a ton of stuff to do - my apartment is a mess, I have books lying all over my room because I need to organize my shelves, I need to catch up on blogging, reading, and writing articles for the site I freelance with....but right now I'm just enjoying a little quiet time.

So now we come to the meltdown part of the blog title. Just before writing this post, I realized I hadn't written the acknowledgements for The Game Changer. When I wrote Blue Sky Days, I thanked practically everyone I'd ever known, but this time it's just going to be people who had something to do with The Game Changer. I started writing and got a little teary, as I always do...I'm a sentimental sort...and then I got to the part where I wanted to thank my Grama (who's been gone for over a year now, and who I talked about quite a bit when I started Lost and Found), and I had a full-on meltdown. I went from a little trickle of tears to hysterical crying, and I couldn't stop. I miss her like crazy, and sometimes it hits me all over again that she's gone, but I think it was more than that. I think it was just everything that's happened in the last few months while I've been trying to be so strong and it all just caught up to me in a moment of weakness. I'm actually kind of sitting here laughing about it now, which probably means I've lost my mind. It feels better to get it all out, and it also feels really nice to have a break, however short, before the chaos starts up again.

 

  

Friday's Letters #6

Friday's Letters is hosted by Ashley over at Adventures of Newlyweds. This has been a really busy week for me, and it's looking like it'll be a busy weekend, too. I swear I need a few more hours in the day just to get everything done.

 

 

Dear weird, mysterious flu-like illness that made me feel like crap Monday night through Wednesday night, thank you for going away. I have way too much going on right now to be sick.

Dear Visa, upping my credit limit and dropping my interest by 8% was the best and worst thing ever. I've been going a little nuts on the spending, but in my defense, I've hardly bought anything all year...still...Dear self, it's NOT FREE MONEY, you have to pay it back. Take it easy!

Dear Dial guava and tangerine body wash, you were the cheapest stuff I could find, and even though guava and tangerine seem like a bizarre combination, you smell so good and you make my skin so soft.

Dear Mum, you're a rock star, as always. What more can I say? I couldn't ask for a better best friend.

Dear editor for The Game Changer, I could have kissed you when I woke up this morning and saw that you'd finished the book and sent me your notes. The last few weeks have been hell wondering if you were going to finish on time, and now I feel like 1,000 pound weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I still have a lot of work to do, but between your comments, my alpha reader's comments, and my one amazing beta reader who came through...I think I'll be ok. *crosses fingers*

Dear Nashville, I was determined not to watch any new shows this fall, and I lost interest in you after seeing the same commercial 5,428,103 times over the summer, but I caved, and you were actually pretty darn amazing. I guess one new show this season won't hurt...

Dear next week, I am so f'ing glad I have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off from watching Logan. I need the break...not that it will technically be a break break, because I have a million things to do and I'll be working morning, noon, and night, but at least I'll actually be able to work without being interrupted every five seconds by a pint-sized monster who uses the world's sweetest grin to manipulate and distract me.

Dear Logan, you were the sweetest thing this week. You're so funny and smart and crazy, and I love you so much it hurts.

 

Serenading me while I attempted to work on Thursday afternoon

 

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you've all had a great week, and that you have a wonderful weekend. Be sure to leave a comment and/or link me up to your Friday's Letters - or just your blog if you're not here from Friday's Letters - and I'll be sure to visit you back! :-)

 

Friday's Letters #5

Friday's Letters is hosted by Ashley over at Adventures of Newlyweds. This has been a really busy week for me, and it's looking like it'll be a busy weekend, too. I swear I need a few more hours in the day just to get everything done.

 

 

Dear WalMart, thanks so much for continuing to give my sister-in-law the crappiest hours known to man so that we won’t have a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving (one of my favourite holidays) this weekend. I have a few choice words for you, but I’d like to keep this blog PG.

Dear Mum, I feel like we're in a race to see who will lose her sanity first. I'm not liking it. At all. This seems like a really good time to run away to Ireland.

Dear Jessica, thank you for listening to me rant repeatedly this week and always being there (and by ‘there’ I mean 400+ miles away) with a reassuring and comforting word. Your cyber hugs are the best, and I love you!

Dear The Game Changer, I can’t believe you will be out in the world in less than six weeks! I also can’t believe that in less than six weeks I’ll be a three-times-published author. Eep! I’m a little worried (ok, a lot worried) that only two of my five beta readers have gotten back to me, and I’m beginning to think I’ll either need to go ahead without them or push back the release date…neither of which will make me a happy girl!

Dear Logan, I love you to bits, and even though having you here every day is sometimes stressful and has seriously thrown my schedule into the toilet, you’re a joy to have around (most of the time...except for yesterday...you were the devil yesterday and I couldn't wait for you to go home) and getting to spend so much time with you and shape your little two-year-old brain is an honour.

Dear blog, last Friday I said I’d try to do better with updating you…and considering this is my first post since then, you can see how well I did there. Sorry! 

I hope you've all  had a great week! Be sure to leave a comment and/or link me up to your Friday's Letters - or just your blog if you're not here from Friday's Letters - and I'll be sure to visit you back! :-)